The 25th Hunger Games: Quarter Quell Number 1
by jrush12
Summary: Ever wondered what happened in the 25th Hunger Games? Ever wondered just how shocking and heartbreaking the first quarter quell's rules were? Well now, you will find out when Jay Fieldrunner, your average almost 14 year old from District 9 was reaped along with close friends and family. Enjoy! P.S.- This is about how me/my friends and family would react if this happened to us...
1. The Reaping

I walk over to the wooden target and collect my five thrown knives from the center ring. I put them in their respective pouches on my belt, and take the weapon in my sixth slot out. A dagger with a 15 inch blade. I go to work on a dummy, chopping off various limbs, disarming it, and then finish by taking out a bow and arrows and shoot it in its heart from 30 feet away. _Okay, that's good, _I think to myself. I woke up early this morning in order to get some last minute training done. I finished the weapons section of the training I do every morning at five, and now, I move on to my strength and endurance sections. After running 3.7 miles in 33 minutes with a backpack full of supplies on my back, I do 30 push ups and go inside at approximately 7:08 AM. I head up the stairs and hop into the shower, making it as cold as it goes in order to get me cooled off. My family is one of the more wealthy ones in District 9, so I always feel pretty guilty for using cold water when what is craved by so many others, that is accessible to me is not being used.  
As the cold water runs down my skin, soothing me immensely, I start to wonder what it would be like if I were reaped. I'd have to put on the illusion of confidence, which shouldn't be too hard. I've been good at hiding my emotions ever since I cut off the tip of my finger in third grade. It was a pretty stupid accident, really. My art teacher had taught us all how to weave, and while cutting the small little patch of fabric I had created, my finger slipped in between the blades. I didn't want to seem weak, so not a single tear left my eye. Not even a sign of pain. Ever since, I've practiced that talent just in case I'd ever have to use it again.  
Anyway, my mind drifts off further to those close to me. It was announced, that in this Hunger Games, the 25th, there would be a twist. Now, four tributes would be reaped in one district, but here's the catch: once one tribute is reaped, the only others that will be his district partners will be his or her closest friends and family. Even those older or younger than the Reaping age restrictions could be reaped. So that means that children who were just born weeks ago could be reaped. That meant grandparents could be reaped. That meant you might have to end up killing your best friends. That meant that if my best friend since preschool, Mattias, was reaped, I was almost sure to be reaped with him. The same goes for my cousins, Jonun and Luara. And you can't count out my crush, my family, or other friends either.  
In fact, that's how I convinced Mattias to come over this morning to walk with me to the Reapings so we could spend a bit of time before that practicing skills. He was very skilled for our age with a sword. I mean, what 14 year old should be able to hold his ground against a full grown sword trainer?

My cousins are also supposed to come over, who both are decent at knife throwing. Jonun is also incredibly strong and can easily handle a mace I made by attaching nails to a wooden club. My cousins, Mattias, some other close friends and I are part of a group of secret careers in our district. We don't train to become brutal, but only just in case we're reaped.

As I turn off the water, I can hear a knocking at the door, followed by some chatter, which must mean my guests have arrived.

"One Minute!" I yell down as I go to get some clothes on, probably waking up my parents and younger brother.

With fresh clothes on, a nice light green button down shirt and black suitpants, I tumble down the stairs to see my friend and cousins waiting eagerly.

"Jay!" They cry in unison.

"Hey guys," I respond, "who's ready for the Reapings?" I say, with mock enthusiasm.

"Can't wait," Mattias says, his expression overtaken with gloom.

We walk inside to see that in these few minutes we were outside, my parents have come downstairs to cook breakfast. They look exhausted.

"Who wants breakfast," my father says tiredly, yawning. Each child in the room's hands shoot up, including my nine year old brother, Evan, who's just come down the stairs.

We sit down at the table to plates toast, eggs, and boiled katniss roots. We eat slowly and silently, savoring the decadent food. While I may be wealthy, Mattias is only merchant class, and Luara and Jonun are on the poor side, but just a bit.

Once we're all finally done, we walk silently down to the Reapings, my parents calling good luck to us in the distance, saying they'll be there.

After about 10 minutes of walking, we're finally at the city circle. We go to our separate spots, Jonun going to the 16s section, Luara going to the girls 13s section, Mattias going to the 14s, and me going to the 13s. I'm about a month apart from Mattias, who had his birthday last week. That means, if I were reaped, I might have my birthday in the arena.

Our district's escort, Tuliana gets on stage.

"Good morning, people of District Nine! Who's excited for this year's Hunger Games, the 25th?" She asks, with way too much excitement.

The crowd stays silent.

The mayor just shakes his head, while the mentors just send Tuliana a death glare. The female mentor is around 35, and she won one of the very first games. Basically, she just hid in the trees with a spear until she was in the final two, where she jumped down onto the boy from six, impaling him and effectively killing him on the spot. My father told me that. The male mentor was different, though. He won five years ago, and now he's 21. I remember his games clearly.

He had always been dirt poor. There was no possible way he could have won, unless he picked up some valuable skill in training. That was exactly what he did. Not only did he learn almost everything there was to know about survival, but he became something of a master at throwing spears. So good that the careers accepted him into their pack. Once the games started, he started to make up lies to get all of the careers to not trust each other or hate each other, but be on his side. The careers broke up by the second day, and he was the only survivor. After that, he then had a base full of supplies surrounded with traps all to himself, with only eight other weak competitors. On the fourth day, six of those had died, five of which by his own spears. The last one had apparently faked weak and was deadly with axes, but eventually, after a lot of hunting and a lot of blood, he threw a spear right into her heart.

"Ladies first," Tuliana sings. I'm hoping, praying, that it isn't some I know, so I won't be reaped, I won't be reaped, I won't be- "Brielle Wanders!"  
Crap.

Brielle is one of my best friends, and one of Mattias and Luara's best friends, too. Thankfully, she doesn't know Jonun, so he'll be safe. I put on my fake courageous face just in case I'm reaped, though.

Brielle walks to the stage, silent tears trickling down her cheeks. She's trying her best to stay calm, but it isn't working.

"Remember, no volunteers allowed this year! Let's move onto her partners," Tuliana says, grinning almost maniacally.

"Luara Lieve!"

Both mine and Jonuns hearts stop. I can hear our relatives in the adults crowd sobbing. Suddenly, Jonun shoots forward.

"NO," he screams, running past Luara up to the stage. "I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" Tuliana's face has gone pale, and she starts to look like she will faint. I feel like I will faint, too, because when peacekeepers try to drag Jonun off the stage, he lashes out at them with a knife in his pocket, opening gashes on their faces. Suddenly, there is a gunshot, and there is Jonun, blood pouring out of his head, lying on the floor.

Dead.

I know that I must hold back my tears, so I do, only feeling the hurt inside. Luara, who was keeping her cool, wearing a determined smile before, is now bawling, along with the rest of our family. Peacekeepers are now frantically trying to keep everyone calm, occasionally shooting bullets into the crowd, killing at random. I put my hands in front of my face when I notice that someone only about 10 feet away is lying dead on the ground.

"Let k-keep going," Tuliana says, voice wavering, "time for the guys!"

Don't let it be me. Don't let it be me. Don't let it be me. Don't let it be me. Don't let it b-  
"Jay Fieldrunner!"  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. The Trains

**Chapter 2**

**A/N: Thank you for reviewing, xEtherealBeauty, you're my first real review on fanfiction! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! This one's much longer than the last. Now read!**

A collective gasp and leaves the crowd, along with many sobs. Huh. I guess I have many friends.  
My face turns pale for a second, until I remember I must remain looking determined. I blink away the tears in the corners of my eyes, then bolt up to the stage, grinning triumphantly. I contemplate pumping my fists, but decide against it. I'm too small to be considered as too much of a threat for people to be scared of me. Then again, maybe that's a good thing.  
My thoughts are interrupted abruptly by the next name called out.  
"Mas Genja!"

A strong, tall and well-built kid I know pretty well starts walking up to the stage with a pissed expression on his face. Not exactly at the fact that he was reaped, but more at his district partners. Little does he know, I have a shuriken in my pocket I could easily kill him right now with.

As soon as he reaches the top of the stairs, he grabs the microphone out of Tuliana's hands, making her gasp. I let out a short chuckle.

"Seriously?" He questions, "Out of all people I know, it had to be these? They'll probably all each die in the first day! This one," he says, gesturing to Brielle, "is so incredibly slow! Jay is weak, and his cousin over there is just stupid! Ugh!"  
That comment pushes me over the edge. "Who's weak now?" I say, kneeing him in the balls. He falls to the ground, moaning, and I hear Luara give a chuckle. Suddenly, peacekeepers put their arms around mine and hold me back. As if I'd do anything more.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the tributes of the 25th Hunger Games!" Tuliana squeals.  
I am then ushered, or probably more like dragged, into a room in the Justice Building to say my final goodbyes. I sit down on the soft velvet couches, hating the Capitol for using money on this and not on the District 9 people, when my first guests arrive. My whole family, except for my parents. They must be coming later.  
My family members are all sobbing their eyes out, but at the same time wishing me good luck. I'm trying to tell them all I love them and thank them for always being there for me and reassure them that I'll win, but the peacekeepers start taking them out and I decide that it's best to just fit it all into one big, heartfelt "I love you all so much," so that's what I shout out as they leave. I can't help but feel bad for them. Today's been a rough day for everyone. My emotions are even starting to creep up on _me. _  
The next group that comes in is my family. My mother, father, and Evan. I rush over to my mother immediately and give her a hug. She and Evan are sobbing, and my father is trying hard to hold back the tears. I am too.  
"Don't worry, guys," I say, "I'll be alright. I have skills. Remember when the grass was mysteriously scorched when you guys woke up once? That was when the fire I taught myself to start went out of hand. And you know how I just disappear sometimes? That's when I go outside and practice throwing knives and shooting arrows in a secret career training center. Don't worry. I'll win."  
"We know you will, son," my father says, handing me a small clay turtle. "Can this be your token? It used to be your great grandmother's good luck charm."  
"Yes," I say, tucking it into my pocket.  
"We believe in you," says my father, before peacekeepers start pulling my family out of the room.  
"I love you guys! Thank you for raising me so well! I'll see you in a few weeks," I shout, and the door closes, muffling the sound of their sobs.  
My final visitors are my big group of friends. They all talk to me, wish me luck, and cry. Mattias then walks in.  
"Jay," he says, "I know you can win this. You have the skills, the smarts, the endurance, the strength, the charm, and the allies. You will win, preschool buddy, and come home."  
"I hope that's true," I say, the full meaning of all of this hitting me now.  
"No, Jay, it is. I'll see you in four weeks, tops," he says, walking out of the room.  
"Thanks, for being my best friend," I say, before the door closes. The rest of the people in the room are starting to slowly go out, and only a few more with me luck. I still have one last piece of unfinished business, though.  
"Lana," I call, grabbing the hand of her before she leaves the room completely, "I just want to say, that if I don't come back, I love you, and always have. Have a great life."  
"You too," she calls back shakily, and starts to walk out of the room again, stopping only to turn back around abruptly and give me a soft kiss on the cheek. As she leaves, leaving me alone in the room, I finally let my emotions get the best of me. Silent tears start running down my cheeks. I'll probably never see my family, besides Luara again. I'll never see my friends, besides Brielle ever again. I doubt I'll even live more than another three weeks, tops. This sucks.  
Suddenly, there's a knocking at the door. It must be time to come out. I blink away the tears and wipe away any traces of emotion as best as possible. The peacekeepers start to escort me to the trains, and I see that my district partners aren't far behind. Soon, Capitol people start running out of nowhere with cameras flashing, temporarily blinding me until I hear the doors of the train shut behind me. Slowly, I open my eyes and observe my surroundings. This train is the most luxurious thing I've ever seen, even more than the interior of the Justice Building, and I'm feeling that hatred again towards the Capitol for being so selfish.  
Mas abruptly begins to speak. "Listen, everyone: I know we were friends in the past, but the only way I'll ally with you all is if you prove your worths. Right now. Go."  
I am the first to step forward. I grab three short but sharp knives off the table and one long butcher knife. "Tell me where to throw these," I command Mas. He points to the eye of someone in a portrait, a fly, and the center of a glass wall decoration. I hit each right on target. I then motion for my mentor to come forward.  
"Do you have any hand to hand combat experience with knives?" He nods, so I hand him another butcher knife, and we start to spar. We both fight back and forth, and we're both holding our own, but eventually I send his knife clattering to the ground and hold it to his throat mockingly. "Dead," I proclaim.  
Next, Luara steps forward. She grabs knives and throws them into very precise spots in the walls, but when I hand her my pocket shuriken, she's able to slice through rows and rows of glass vases. Mas is looking very impressed. The mentors' jaws drop, Tuliana actually faints, and Brielle just looks intimidated.

"Now you," Mas says, pointing to her.

"Well, I'm creative... And smart... And I'm pretty good at art which should help with camouflage... Maybe I could pick up some skill in training?" Brielle says, looking on the verge of tears.  
"She's in the alliance," Luara says, "and if you don't agree with it, Mas, you just won't be a part in it." I've never seen Luara this fierce.

"Fine. But you two, you're exceptional. I'm proud to be allied with you," Mas states.

"Well then," the male mentors says, finally speaking up, Tuliana being wheeled away behind him on a stretcher, "I'm Vuk and this is Yelina. We'll be mentoring you all this year, and I think we can both already tell that we'll be mentoring a victor. How do you two get so good?"

"That's for us to know and no one to find out," I say, smiling coyly.

"I already like all of you. It's a pleasure to meet you," says Yelina.

"Well, I'll see you all at dinner, where we'll discuss strategy and all that. For now, you all should go check out your rooms. You can do anything you want during this time, but it must be legal and you all must be back by dinner. Have fun!" Proclaims Vuk. We all start to head down a hallway to where our rooms must be when a stroke of brilliance hits me. Ok, maybe it's not _that _smart, but it'll do. "Alliance meeting?" I ask, followed by several quick nods. We all head into the room I claim, where my allies wait while I bring silverware from the kitchen. I bring five knives to throw, three butcher knives, two kabob skewers, a meat tenderizer and a carving knife.

"Okay, Luara, I'm pretty sure you already know your skills. Mas, Brielle, I'll try to teach you both different weapons. Luara, can you teach them to throw knives while I make a spear out of the kabob skewers and broomsticks?" I ask, which she gives a slight nod to. I go and collect two brooms which I take the tops off of, then cut the tops with the carving knife so that the skewers will fit. I give one a throw, and it sticks right into the wall. Huh. I never even tried spears before. I bring them back into my room, where Luara informs me that Brielle wasn't that bad at throwing knives, although Mas shouldn't even get close to one in the arena. We then all try our hand at spears, but the only one who is exceptional with it is Luara. She even went down the hallway about 35 feet, and when she threw it, she still came up with a bull's-eye. I guess she found a new weapon.

Suddenly, right before we start working with the meat tenderizers, we turn our heads at the sound of Vuk calling us in for dinner. "Coming!" We all respond in unison. We go to our rooms to change into something nicer than reaping clothes. In my closet, I choose a dark purple suit with a light blue tie and green shirt, completed by shining green shoes. My favorite colors.

We then all walk silently down the hallway to dinner, and during that time I take glances at how the others are reacting to the training. Luara looks proud, Mas looks just emotionless, and Brielle, for the first time, actually looks confident.

"Hello, everyone," Yelina says, "you're all looking nice." We all grin at that comment, and I can't help but agree. Mas is wearing a brown t-shirt with a red blazer and black jeans, which fits his aggressive personality perfectly. Luara and Brielle must have both changed together, because they're wearing matching sparkling blue dresses. Luara and Brielle start smiling and giggling. I didn't even think it was possible to giggle in our situation.

Tualiana sits down and beckons for the servers, avoxes I've heard they're called.  
"So," Vuk starts, "let's get down to business. Does anyone here want to be trained separately?" No one raises their hands, so Vuk moves onto his next question. "I would also like to know what skills, if anything, you may have. Mas, start."  
"I'm strong, I'm fast, I'm smart, and I'm not bad with a spear, although that's the only weapon I've tried besides throwing knives. Oh yeah, and I use a club shaped piece of wood sometimes to beat up a dummy."  
"Not bad, but not great either. Brielle?"  
"I'm smart, I have a good memory, I'm good at camouflage and can throw knives decently," Brielle remarks, grinning triumphantly.  
"Well it seems like someone's been picking up some skills already... Jay?" Vuk asks.  
"Well," I start, "I'm good at fighting with and throwing knives, archery, I'm not bad with a shuriken or a lasso, and I'm smart and resourceful. I always think of how I could use something as a weapon if necessary. I am good at art, and I can run long distances."  
"Show off," Mas mutters. The food is beginning to come out in courses, and we're helping ourselves to some kind of creamy yellow soup that tastes a bit like some kind of squash.  
"Very nice. And last, but hopefully not least, Luara?"  
"I can throw knives decently, throw shurikens expertly, and throw and fight with spears exceptionally, if I do say so myself," she says, pausing to take a bite of soup, "also, I can-"  
"DON'T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL!" Tuliana shrieks, looking horrified.  
"I can talk however the hell I want to; if I may die in less than a week I better live it up," Luara says, spitting soup in Tualiana's face. Tuliana is looking shocked, while the rest of us are either laughing or giving Luara high fives.  
"One of your skills _certainly _isn't etiquette," Tuliana says, looking down into her soup gloomily.  
"As if that would help me anyway," Luara shoots back. "As I was saying," she continues, "I can also hide and climb trees well. And I know how to start a fire."  
"Very nice, Luara," Yelina says. "You too, Brielle!" She says, when the next course, chicken smothered in apricot preserves and wild rice comes out. We all sit in silence eating for the next few minutes, until Yelina breaks it.  
"I'd suggest you all take a notepad and pen into the sitting room after dinner. We will be watching the replays of the reapings, and you'll want to remember as much as possible about each tribute. Not just for knowledge, but for alliances. If all of the career tributes ally this year, it will be a pack of 12, a fourth of the whole group of tributes, so you'll want all the help you can get to take them down." We all nod in agreement, and finish our steamed vegetables that just came out for some raspberries and vanilla custard for dessert. As we eat, Yelina comes around, passing out writing materials. Wow. This has been such a silent dinner, especially for me and my talkative group of friends. I guess this situation makes it feel unnatural to be so chatty.  
We are all settling onto the couch to watch the reapings. I take my seat with my notepad and pen next to Vuk and Luara. The television is turned on, so I begin taking notes of the reapings.

_District 1_  
_-Male no. 1, Kai looks strong, but not incredibly smart. I could easily outsmart him alone, but maybe not him with a pack. 17 years old. Threat._  
_-Female no. 1, Darrow looks extremely brutal and smart. Very confident. Major threat._  
_-Male no. 2 is Kai's father. Looks extremely strong. Is previous victor. 37. Huge threat._  
_-Female no. 2 is small but has a glint in her eyes. 15. Watch her actions for further observation._

_District 2_  
_-Female no. 1, Patrice is very quick, sprinting her way upstage to volunteer. Not very strong, however. Regardless, she's still a threat, being a career and all._  
_-Male no. 1, Nantin, is 12 years old. Probably won't join careers. Possible ally._  
_-Female no. 2 is 93 years old and can barely walk. Enough said. _  
_-Male no. 2 is a 4 year old. It's a surprisingly small amount of careers already, compared to what was expected. _

_District 3_  
_Each tribute is 13 and looks weak, but smart. Possible, but not so possible allies._

_District 4_  
_-Female no. 1 seems determined and smart, but not too strong. Minor threat. _  
_-Male no. 1, Pike is 29 and ripped. Threat._  
_-Female no. 2, Prawn looks very tall for her age of 14, probably the same height as Mas. Do more research. _  
_-Male no. 2, Xam looks just like Mas, and they even have the same last name. He's 14, just like Mas, too. Very suspicious..._

We all stop writing when we hear sniffling, and turn our heads upward at the sound. Mas is crying silently, tears running down his cheeks.  
"Whatever could be wrong?" Tuliana questions.  
"That," Mas starts, "is my brother."


End file.
